We were lying in a lowly position, languishing in the bottom half of the table at the early stages of the season after a poor defeat at the hands of the oldest Italian football club, Genoa. Having said this Siena were still above Champions League hopefuls and one of the giants of Italian football, A.S. Roma.
Coach Marco Giampaolo was looking for a good reaction especially before the next two crucial fixtures. They were going to be arguably Siena's hardest (for the players) and most important of the season (to the fans): Milan away this Wednesday and Fiorentina at home on Sunday.
The scene was set as the sun was setting over Tuscany at least a third of the city's population ( a mere 55,000) filled the Artemio Franchi Montepaschi Arena. A few hundred Sicilians had made the pilgrimage up from the Mediterranean island and were in good voice.
Never have I seen a more one sided match whereby one team completely dominated the other. Sadly the team that was dominating did not reap the rewards as it transpired this match was to be one of the most frustrating games I have ever witnessed.
Siena dominated all areas of the pitch and passed it around like a team who should be playing in the Champions League. Massimo Maccarone and 'Super Mario' Frick playing up front were given so many oppotunities and endless crosses but neither could break the deadlock.
Finally in the 75th minute (the Siena fans were very patient it must be said) Emanuele Calaio coming on for tired old 'Big Mac' (52') stuck his head out, got on the end of a good cross from Del Grosso and snuck it past Bazarri, who must have been awarded man-of-the-match, no doubt.
What happened next was close to inexplicable and utterly absurd. Football fans often have to take the rough with the smooth but sometimes the rough can be so unbearable one questions their loyalty to a team who throws away a lead.
Fans all over the world follow their team religiously and in some cases for little else than to be left fuming at the end of ninety minutes. Its not called the beautiful game for nothing.
Calaio, the same man who put Siena ahead, gave an awful back pass to Curci only for Catania's striker to pounce on the poorly weighted pass. He was duly brought down in the box. It was an obvious penalty, no complaints. Catania were not to miss such an opportunity from the penalty spot and Siena dropped 2 points.
Siena must now look forward and lean from their mistakes, but above all, concentrate more on converting taking their chances. They truly have the potential to beat their formidable rivals, Fiorentina [touch wood].
FORZA SIENA, FORZA LA ROBUR!
Il vostro corrispondente,
JB
The match attendance today: 9,000.
Shots on goal: Siena 28, Catania 4.
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